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Thomas Barrow
Thomas Barrow is under butler at Downton Abbey. He arrived at Downton in 1910, indicating in 1920 he had worked there for ten years.In the NEXT TIME preview for Episode 3.08 Thomas says "Ten years" as to how long he has been working at Downton. Before the First World War he was first footman, later enlisting in the army as a medic in an attempt to save himself from the frontlines. When the hint of a war approaches, Thomas says he does not want to go to battle and signs up to be a doctor. While in the trenches, alongside Matthew Crawley, he holds a lighter above the trench wall to get his hand shot, and effectively be removed from service. Through this action he gets sent back to Downton Abbey. After the war Thomas tried to make it as a black market buisnessman but after buying goods that were fake and spending all of his money, Thomas was forced to return to Downton abbey as a footman. By 1920 Thomas is promoted to Lord Grantham's valet, which was previously John Bates' job. After John returned to take his old job, Thomas was given his current position of under butler. We know very little of Thomas' family but he does tell Sarah O'Brien and later Jimmy Kent that his father was a clockmaker. As a result, he apparently has a natural affinity with clocks, saying that he grew up around them and "understands" them. O'Brien calla him the house's clock expert. Jimmy remarks that Thomas speaks as if a clock is a living thing. He also appears to be quite talented at cricket, Lord Grantham stating he got most of the house team's runs in the 1919 match. He is gay, and has an affair with the Duke of Crowborough. He tries to get in with Kemal Pamuk, the Turkish envoy, but Kemal slaps his hand away and says he will tell Lord Grantham if Thomas does not tell him where Mary Crawley's room is. Thomas is one of the few people who knew that Kemal was in Mary's room the night he died. Thomas has shown himself to be capable of being very cruel, for example, he asked Daisy Mason to go to the fair with him just to upset William Mason who was planning to ask her. Also he later made comments about William's mother after she had died, which resulted in a fight. However, as the series progressed Thomas appeared to learn some humanity and his attitude toward working as a footman became much more positive. Fans speculate that Thomas' failed relationships (e.g. with the Duke) made him bitter. However he is still not above using crooked methods to further his own career, such as when he locked Isis in a shed then pretended to be out looking for her (ironically he was but only because she was gone from where he'd locked her), which convinced Lord Grantham to give Thomas a try as a valet (which is what Thomas wanted), much to Mr. Carson's surprise and doubt. Relationships Sarah O'Brien To begin with Thomas is good friends with Sarah and the two of them are constantly plotting to get John Bates thrown out, none of which work. Thomas and Sarah become bitter rivals when Sarah's nephew Alfred Nugent comes to Downton to work as a footman, especially after Thomas insults Alfred. Sarah and Thomas repeatedly try to damage the reputation of the other. Sarah sees that Thomas is attracted to Jimmy Kent, and encourages Thomas to believe that Jimmy feels the same way in an attempt to get Thomas to reveal his homosexuality and thus blacken his name and get him fired. This nearly leads to Thomas losing his job and being questioned by the police when Sarah encourages Alfred - who saw Thomas kiss Jimmy - to report Thomas. John Bates To begin with, Thomas is extremely annoyed that he had been passed up for the position of Lord Grantham's valet by "Long John Silver", which is what he calls John Bates when talking with Ms O'Brien about the new valet. Throughout the first series, he is always at odds with John, trying to get him fired for theft so that he could become a valet, then later accusing him of stealing some wine, whilst teaming up with Ms O'Brien and getting Daisy to lie to Mr Carson. During the second series, the animosity between Thomas and John is not seen much, due to many reasons, one being that Thomas was in the Army Medical Corps for a short time; but by the Christmas Special, set in 1919 and moving through to early 1920, he makes the comment to Ms O'Brien that "There'll have to be a new valet now, won't there?" when everyone finds out that John is sentenced to hang, which causes the lady's maid to reply that "I don't often feel selfless; but when I'm with you, I do." When he finds out, later on in the Christmas Special, that Isis has gone missing from where he'd hidden her, he goes to look for her, getting muddied and frustrated; but when it turns out that she has been returned, he walks away from Lord Grantham, who is deep in thought and ends up giving Thomas a trial as his valet. He then makes him his valet until John can be released from his incarceration, giving him his dream job. In Series 3, when John is finally released, it seems that Thomas is bitter that the former valet has returned, making the comment that "It's Mr. Barrow now, Mr. Bates. And yes, I'm still here, and busy as a bee." However, after his misunderstanding with Jimmy possibly reciprocating his feelings, he doesn't seem to mind when, during Episode 8, Mr Carson tells him that John will be returning to his former job the next morning. Then, to further Thomas's surprise, John decides to strike up a temporary alliance against Ms O'Brien with him (which Anna heartily disagrees to), getting Thomas to tell him something that will make the lady's maid change her mind about giving him a bad reference due to his homosexuality. When Lord Grantham discusses with John about Thomas staying on, however, the dislike between the two appears again as John comments "Couldn't Mr. Barrow just stay until after the match, milord, and then go?" and then further saying "He might not want to stay, milord. After the unpleasentness." Overall, the relationship between Thomas and John is not exactly hate, but it's not a fully-fledged friendship, either. Edward Courtenay Thomas developed feelings for Lieutenant Edward Courtenay while Edward was recovering from gas-blindness. This is one of the first times Thomas is seen with a very kind and caring side. After being told that he was to be moved out of the hospital to make room for newer, terminal patients Edward committed suicide with a razor he sneaked into his bed. Thomas is seen crying and is left alone again. Sybil Branson Sybil seems to be the one member of the Crawley family whom Thomas likes. They work together during the war when Downton is a convalescent home and Sybil works as a nurse, and they both like and are concerned about Edward Courtenay. Thomas says that she was kind to him and is very upset and cries when she dies in childbirth. Jimmy Kent In 1920 Thomas develops an attraction to new footman Jimmy Kent. Sarah sees this and attempts to use it against Thomas to get him fired. In an attempt to lead Thomas to believe that Jimmy has feelings for him Sarah encourages Jimmy to learn from Thomas and to not say anything when Jimmy feels that Thomas is being over familiar. Jimmy is uncomfortable with Thomas' actions but goes along with it as Sarah leads him to believe his position could be in jeopardy if he doesn't. Sarah also tricks Thomas into believing Jimmy has feelings for him. Because of Sarah's deceptions, one night Thomas goes into Jimmy's room when he is asleep and kisses him, thinking his feelings will be returned. Jimmy awakes and is very angry, reacting violently and indicating he feels nothing for Thomas, to which Thomas is shocked and upset. To make matters worse, Alfred catches Thomas in the act, though Thomas at first thinks no one will believe Alfred. Mr Carson finds out and says that Thomas will have to leave Downton, but that he will be given a good reference. Thomas defends Jimmy, saying none of this was his fault. Thomas says he felt an attraction to Jimmy and thought Jimmy returned it, but he was wrong. According to Mr Carson, Jimmy has every right to report Thomas to the police. Mr Carson calls Thomas "foul" because of his homosexuality but despite everything, Thomas sticks up for himself saying "I'm not the same as you, but I'm not foul". Jimmy threatens to tell the police of what Thomas has done unless Thomas is made to leave without a reference, which would make it almost impossible for him to find another job. Thomas is devastated and feels he has been "well and truly beaten". For a moment it looked like he might not be working at Downton anymore, but he stayed after all. More than a year after these events, in the 2012 Christmas Special, Jimmy at first still appears uncomfortable around Thomas, not wanting to be seen to be alone with him or accept the gift of a drink when Thomas offers to buy everyone one. Later, whilst at Thirsk fair, which most of the staff attends, Jimmy wins some money in a bet. Whilst Jimmy is walking alone later two men attempt to rob him. Thomas appears and steps in to protect him and is beaten and robbed in his place after Jimmy runs away and leaves him there. Jimmy fetches Dr. Richard Clarkson and some of the other staff for Thomas and stays silent whilst Thomas fails to say what really happened and so avoids telling everyone that Jimmy left him alone to face the two men and get beaten. Jimmy later goes to see Thomas alone in his room and ask if he is alright. Jimmy says that Thomas was "brave" and that he feels bad for leaving him. Thomas reveals that he was following Jimmy that day as he had seen that Jimmy had had too much to drink. When Jimmy asks why he was doing this Thomas says that Jimmy "knows why", implying that he still has feelings for Jimmy. Jimmy says that he can never give Thomas what he wants and Thomas says that he understands that but would like them to be friends. Jimmy says he can do that if it is only being friends and the scene ends on them chatting over a newspaper. Quotes Reference Barrow, Thomas Barrow, Thomas Barrow, Thomas